Please explain to me the benefit of baby led weaning? Because I can't see the difference in the long term

The reason i want to understand is because my best friend is weaning this way and she is very militant about it (it also includes a no sugar until the child is 6 rule; is this a normal part of BLW?)

My 2 kids are older (so yes I am quite old!) and I breastfed both for ages,, then introduced some breast milk mixed with rice, let them taste it, moved on the pureeing fruit but always gave 'bits' of stuff for them to play with and explore. End result, they were weaned and have adventurous tastes etc.

Now my friend says this was wrong, I forced them with the rice puree stuff and her way is superior in the long term...

well this is what I don't get: her baby will be weaned eventually, just like mine were, so end result

both babies weaned, different pathway to the same result.

Or is there something I missing? does it give the child some extra, invisible benefits?

Because I am finding it hard to understand the strict attitude to something I was fairly laid back about when it doesn't gain anything.

This post is not meant to annoy BLW people, actually I just want to understand because my friend's explanation and website she sent me to didn't seem to give any concrete reasons as to why it is better.

If it is just a different way, that some people enjoy, why the militant attitude and dissing of the puree method. I don't mind how people wean their babies, it's a personal choice (and really not worth making a big deal about surely?) but my friend seems radicalised!

the didn't outcome that ifs sometimes suggested if that you end up with a child arranged into an adult diet.because they eat is pretty much always " real food", so end up eating normal stuff rather that the kiddified transition food type stuff . however I'm sure that depends what you freed after all.

We've done BLW with ds, he's 13 months now it's worked out really well as he'll give anything a go, loves all foods, even curry, whereas my sister's little girl at 2 refuses to ever eat fruit, vegetables etc, must be beige or spag bol. But maybe he'd always have been like that? Another friend's ds the same age as mine, she is terrified of giving anything not puréed still, and is used to spooning in a certain amount of food (which if he has finger food he wouldn't eat that much so she worries) so her ds will spit out anything with even a tiny bit of texture or that needs a bit of chewing. Although another friend did a bit of both and he eats like a trouper, so I think as long as you give finger foods at the same time so they get used to it and chewing then it all works out fine. Best benefit like others said it's so easy and you can eat at the same time, they watch you and copy you too. You just need to trust their gag reflex which is very sensitive and try not to be guilt tripped by the baby food company weaning stages as it is a very different way of doing things. Also they use the saying 'food under 1 is just for fun' and play attitude too, so not to worry if they only eat a little, most nutrients and energy are still from milk until then.

Scientific rationale I suppose is along the lines of self regulating appetite and over feeding, later obesity and type 2 diabetes etc. I don't know if it is true or not. They say with breast feeding a baby drinks what they need, the milk comes in let downs, the message to say they're full reaches them and they stop sucking and milk stops immediately. So they learn to self regulate. Whereas bottle feeding (including expressed milk) the teat keeps filling and milk coming out even if they stop sucking, the message to say they are full is not reached right away, so they drink extra, so like the next day after a big Christmas dinner, your tummy is stretched and it takes more to feel full the next time and so on.

So BLW is supposed to be an extension of breast feeding in that the baby decides how much to eat and when they've had enough, whereas spoon feeding purée you can shovel it in. Although I am not sure if that is right, you can't make a baby eat if they don't want anymore, they clamp that mouth shut and turn their head away! Unless it is sweet, then like me my ds has a separate dessert stomach! .

I did BLW because I have twins and it was easier as neither of them had to wait. They don't eat any differently now than their friends (5 yo). Actually there are several things (like curry) that they ate at 2 that won't eat now.

The only thing I notice different from friends children who went down a more trafitional route is that mine are a bit better at sitting at the table for a long while with the family. This might be because BLW advocates children eating with the family and as a result they have learned to sit for longer or it might be that I am stricter about table manners. It's hard to say.

Re the no sugar thing, I would nod and smile and wait to see how she is going to handle party invitations...

There are a lot of claims about what is the 'best' way, not really any evidence. It's just about finding what suits your individual baby. There's nothing that works universally, be it purees, BLW or anything inbetween. Hence radicalisation is idiotic, regardless of approach. I'm wary of extrapolating my own experience to everyone, but I think a significant minority if not the majority borrow a bit from all approaches!

I did BLW for both my daughters. DD1 (5) is now, quite picky and would sit and be fed by me if she could get away with it at every mealtime. DD2 (2.5) will give most things a try, hates being fed and digs in to her meals with hands, fork, spoon, chopsticks or any other available implement.

I think the benefits for me in the short term were the total lack of stress or hassle about mealtimes, no pureeing, variety of foods that they ate when weaning.

In the long term, both girls eat solid food so I suppose that's a result, and they don't have any "issues" around food or mealtimes that I can ascertain, but I suspect that we could have achieved the same result via traditional weaning methods.

Having said all that I am still glad we went the BLW route, not only as a time saver but also because it helped me to be very relaxed about mealtimes, not worry about gagging, and let them explore food in their own way.

One last thing it is worth pointing out (sorry if repeating something others have said) is that BLW does not simply equal finger foods. It's about putting manageable portions in front of baby and letting them decide what to eat, how much, and in what way. Basically it is a hands off approach for parents, but hands on for kids.

We had to do purées due to DS reflux and strong gagging instinct. Otherwise he wouldn't have got protein into him in sufficient quantities. I've known other people who have only done jarred purées, which doesn't seek ideal but you do what you need to.

I've seen excellent BLW children and also the worst eater I know is currently being BLW and survives on entirelyProcessed solid foods - cornflakes, raisins, crackers, white bread and ham.

I think as a parent no matter what you do the emphasis should be on good nutrition and variety.

I actually suspect that eating is like sleeping where babies are concerned. That is, some of them love it and take to it and would do so regardless of parental techniques used and choices made. And some of them just don't fancy it whatever you do!

I think it's just about what works with your baby. I tried BLW with DD but she just wasn't interested. She's just not one of those babies who puts things into her mouth and either played with it or ignored it. It took until she was at least 1 before she would let anything solid into her mouth, even though she had plenty of teeth by then.

Friends who tried BLW had great results and I would definitely try it with DD2!

Militant BLWers are becoming an extension of the mummy wars - the next chapter. The one who told me, because I was going the more traditional weaning puree route, that I was "forcing food down my child's throat" being a delightful specimen of womankind.

I just did weaning - pick-upable stuff got picked up, occasionally un-pickupable stuff gets attempted to be picked up (we had an epic battle with some uncooperative jelly the other day), stuff goes on spoon, on floor, on dog, in dog. Had to do puree and spoon initially as because of her prematurity - she simply didn't have the motor skills to self-feed but was desperately eager for solid foods (and we waited till about 1 week before 6 months, on a ridiculous sized bottle feed, hungry baby milk and still a starving hungry baby with weight gain going on a far steeper curve than I was comfortable with) and she took to them with absolute gusto - when she was at the point of being able and interested to take the lead more - she did so... surely THAT part is truly being "baby-led"

DD1 also had absolutely no teeth till 13 1/2 months (when she cut five in one very very very very very very fucking long week) and some stuff just was beyond her ability (or boredom threshold) to gum to death!

I weaned my two "children" 64 years ago. Nothing much has changed since then except the fruit and veg that was offered was seasonal and locally grown. BLW is making someone a lot of money yet its been around forever. Myself and all my friends put finger foods in front of our babies and let our babies feed themselves. What we also did was feed them with a spoon too.Yes the baby rice and pureed pear was sloppy and we always let them put their fingers in the bowl so they could help themselves at the same time. It seems to me to be a much better way of introducing foods than going from liquid to crunchy. I think BLW is a bit of a cop out for parents that don't have the time or possibly the energy to spend time preparing their baby's meals. Both my girls are slim, they care about what they put in their bodies. Lets stop pretending BLW is anything other than a new name for something that has been going on for hundreds of years. Do we imagine for one minute the Victorians had blenders-nah reckon there would have been a few lumps !!!

As granny says people always did it, they were just laid back and did a mix and didn't have a misleading label. The baby has the choice if 'take it or leave it' the way they always have. The only benefit that I can see is that it does away with commercial jars. It makes no difference whatsoever in the long term. The aim is to get them to eat family meals and how you get to that point really doesn't matter, it is so short.Having a balanced diet is the important thing and not labelling food as 'good' or 'bad'. Keeping off sugar until 6 yrs is a sure way to make it highly desirable! I don't think she realises how difficult it will be unless she isolates her child.

The appeal for me with BLW is partly because it feels like a return to what people always have done. It only seems like a new fad because the norm has become weaning based on baby rice, purees and special baby food. I don't think anyone is making any money out of it either, seeing as the whole principle is that you don't need to have anything special and you just give babies normal food. On the other hand, lots of money is clearly made out of the puree type route, with all the different jars of food, pouches, special baby snacks and Annabel Karmel style meal plans and products.

It's not a cop out either. You don't need to faff around stewing fruit and making purees, but then I've seen enough parents who are doing the puree route who seem to rely pretty much entirely on prepared jars and pouches anyway. One reason I like BLW is because I really like food and cooking anyway and I'm enjoying making food for DS that will give him a balanced diet and that he can feed himself relatively easily.

I don't get how BLW is for lazy people as when I tried it I ended up cleaning the floor a great deal more! At least with purees and so on I can whisk the bowl away when DD gets that glint of 'hmm could that fly?'

However, now she is crawling she is trying to BLW onto cat food anyway .